Hello, I'm pretty much new to car audio for the most part. I am looking to build an SQ for my 2006 Cobalt LT 2dr. Everything in it is stock so far.

Right now the only thing I have picked out is the HU and that is the Alpine CDA-9883 unless someone can recommend me a better one for the same price or cheaper.

Alright so I don't really know what all I am looking for to get but I would like at least one sub in because I do like bass just not over the top bass. I mostly listen to rock and metal I guess and my budget is anywhere between 400 and 500 dollars. That is not counting the HU. So I would just like to get some opinions on what would be the best bang for the buck and what all I would need to get. Thanks for all the help.

 

That Alpine HU should be fine, but you're not going to do a whole lot with $400 - $500 for door and rear speakers, amps, sub and box, and wiring for it all. Are you going to be installing the equipment yourself?

It depends what direction you want to go in first but you should probably start by getting nice component or coax speakers for the doors and rear deck and an amp to drive them. Do LOTS of research. The best places to research are dedicated car audio forums, think sounddomain.com, places like that. And ebay is your friend.

 

im going to agree sq is quite pricy... just depends on how sq you want to go.

 

If your wanting to start with a good sub, buy one good 10" or 12" sub that can handle 500 to 1000 watts RMS and an amp that can put out at least the same RMS power rating or even slightly higher. For example, I have a JL Audio 10W6 (10") that's rated for 400 watts RMS. JL is fairly conservative with their power handling ratings. They actually have charts that show the optimum power range for each sub that show when you may be pushing your luck as far as the longevity of the subs life is concerned. I am feeding my sub about 570 watts RMS, which is still within the "safe" range of my sub. To get max volume and sound clarity out of a single sub, I recommend getting a line driver. It will boost your pre-amp signal voltage (RCA input signal) and significantly improve the subs volume and overall performance. I think a single sub with lots of power behind it is the best way to go when it comes to SQ. If you have 2 or more subs, your going to have excesive amounts of bass sound pressure that can cancel out a lot of your audible mid range frequencies leading to an unbalanced system when it comes to producing a complete frequency range. I learned this lesson the hard way. I had a 15" Kicker solobaric L5 in my last car for a while and I couldn't push it very hard because it was to overwhelming and canceled out a good portion of my mid range. When I swapped it out for a 10" that I could push hard without it being overwhelming, yet plenty loud, I found that I could hear mid range frequencies that I just couldn't hear with the 15" in the car. A 10" sub produces "tighter" and "puchier" bass that is much better suited to rock and metal. I found that my 15" couldn't reproduce bass guitar very well because it just couldn't move fast enough. The larger a speaker is, the more biased it is to producing lower frequencies. This means you will have to set your low-pass filter lower for larger subs to clean up the sound quality of the sub. Here's a sub and amp I would recommend: http://cgi.ebay.ca/NEW-ALPINE-SWR-10...QQcmdZViewItem and http://cgi.ebay.ca/NEW-ALPINE-MRD-M6...QQcmdZViewItem This amp has tuning features that allow you to get the most out of a single sub. I don't think there's any thing else out there that has the tuning flexability of the Alpine MRD series amps.

 

If you are going for real sound quality less is more. I would get rid of your back speakers all together and seal those 6x9 holes in the deck. The only speakers you will want is a good set of 6.5's. For that I would probably go with a set of components, but that will make a need for a little bit of custom modding on the doors for tweeter placement and direction. Then a nice 10" sub. That is it on the speakers.

I would spend the major part of your money (if not your whole current budget) on the amps and signal processing equipment. The head unit that you have does a good bit of processing but it is not going to give you the equivilant of a "band" type EQ.

It is going to be hard to find quality equipment to make up a whole system on a $500 budget. If I were you I would pick one aspect first either the internal speakers or the sub and use your current budget on that and then upgrade the other at a later date when you have a little bit of extra cash again. You will save yourself money in the long run because you will not be upgrading something that you already purchased. Like buying a higher quality sub because you went for something sub-par the first time around.

If you are really looking to not go over that price and are never going to think about upgrading again later than I would suggest infinity brand speakers and subs. I have used alot of different brands over the years and for quality I think this is the best quality for the price. Don't get me wrong there are a lot of other brands well worth the money you are spending on them, but infinity is affordable and still makes a quality speaker with good sound reproduction.

 

Thanks for all the help and suggestions so far. I read a lot on sounddomain.com and from what I saw most people don't even worry with the rear speakers and just try to get good front speakers. Would component systems be better or should I just go with speakers?

This is what I have come up with so far
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...PZi+100.4.html
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...KAC-8103D.html
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...0D2.html#specs
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...ZXi+5.2C.html#

And for the sub it would sound cleaner and clearer in a sealed box correct?
That should leave me with money left over to buy a box for the sub and wiring kits for the amp. And I have some friends that know how to install car audio so installation shouldn't be a problem. But are those good brands to buy from and would that be a decent beginning build to go with? Again thanks for all the help.

 

Your sub amp and your sub do not match. Your sub is dual 2 ohm voice coils. You amp is 4 or 2 ohm stable. The sub can be wired in 4 ohm (which limits the power out of your amp to 300W RMS). Or it can be wired down to 1 ohm which the amp chosen is not stable in.

Also I would avoid buying a 4 channle amp for just your front speakers. If you are planning on leaving in your 6x9's then that is ok, but if you are going to dissconnect them then I would look for a 2 channle amp. Bridging down a 4 channle to 2 channles will increase the power (usually) but at the same time loose some of it's sound quality (usually).

 

damn thats an awsome suggestion there... ill agree 100% and post up pics of my tweeter pods

 

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...cs+BX10D4.html
That is the dual 4 ohm version of the same sub. So if I got that one then I could wire it to either 8 ohms or 2 ohms right? Would wiring it to 2 ohms be better? Then I could use the kenwood amp.

And how is this amp for a 2 channel amp?
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...+OV2-600.html#

 

I installed 6x9's but I keep the fader set heavily towards the front. I've heard a system with Focal components up front and a JL 8W7 sub. It sounded really good, but the front stage seemed a bit loud and overwhelming to me because it had some serious power behind it. When it's cranked up it's actually hard to tell that there are no rear speakers. If your on a tight budget that's probably the way to go, but I prefer to get some of my mids and highs from the rear stage so I don't have to amplify the front stage too heavily. It's a matter of personal preference, if you can find some one with only front components and a sub, have a listen and decide for your self.

That's correct and wire it in parallel to create a 2ohm load.
I don't know too much about Power Acoustic stuff, but the price seems right.

 

dont get power acoustic or crunch... hifonics and kenwood would be the 2 better brands (out of your choices)